Use household materials, crafting supplies and toys that you likely already have at home, to create the ultimate DIY STEM experiment kit that makes 14 experiments (including ice cream!).
At STEM Camp, we believe that STEM learning should be accessible to kids of all ages and walks of life. And on that front, one of the great things about fostering understanding and appreciation for science, technology, math and engineering, is that you actually don’t need to invest a lot of money (and sometimes none at all) in order to bring science to life.
Below, we’ve rounded up the ultimate list of items, which are used in 14 of our accessible DIY STEM experiments. And the best part? You probably already have them all in your house!
So grab a special box and start shopping your own shelves, following the checklists below. With the items you find, you’ll be able to make 14 accessible, easy-to-do experiments that we have posted on our blog, for free.
Whether you’re looking to create the ultimate DIY STEM experiment kit as a holiday gift, or in preparation to beat out March break boredom, we have you covered.
Let’s go!
How to Assemble Your DIY STEM Experiment Materials
When it comes to creating your DIY STEM experiment materials box, you can go about it one of two ways:
- You may wish to assemble all the materials at once, and make your own STEM box that you can easily reach into, over time, when the opportunity to experiment comes along.
- Or, you can gather materials on an experiment-by-experiment basis. We’ve laid out both options for you here.
You can either follow the master materials checklist to gather up all the supplies you’ll need for all 14 experiments at once…OR jump down to the experiments section to see the materials for each experiment, and pick one to follow when you have the materials in-house.
DIY STEM Experiments You'll Create With The Materials
- How Can You Clean the Ocean?
- How Do Fish Breathe?
- Make Paperclips Float in Air
- Meteorite Simulation Activity
- Build a Volcano on the Beach
- Make Your Own Ice Cream
- Make a Thunderstorm
- Make a Cloud in a Jar
- How Clean is Your Air?
- The Magic of Static Electricity
- Make Your Own Kaleidoscope
- Build a Gumdrop Tower
- Make a Crystal Snowflake
- How to Make Fake Snow
DIY STEM Experiment Materials Checklist (Master Checklist)
The following checklists have been divided into four sections to make gathering supplies easier:
- Household supplies
- Food ingredients
- Toys
- Craft materials/supplies
1. Household Supplies
- Aluminium foil
- Bowl
- Butter knife
- Can opener
- Coffee filters
- Elastic
- Empty Pringles can or tissue paper roll
- Flour sifter
- Hair conditioner
- Large clear container
- Mason jar
- Magnifying glass
- Magnets
- Measuring cup
- Metal ruler
- Paperclips
- Pencil
- Petroleum jelly
- Plastic hair comb
- Plastic cups
- Ruler
- Toothpicks
- Straw
- String
- Spoon
- Scissors
- Tape
- Tin foil
- Water
- Wax paper
- Ziploc bag
2. Food Ingredients
- Baking soda
- Borax
- Cocoa powder
- Coffee grounds
- Cornstarch
- Food colouring
- Flour
- Gum drops
- Half and half cream
- Pepper
- Salt (table)
- Rock salt/kosher salt
- Vanilla
- Vinegar
- White sugar
3. Toys
- Blocks, books, other materials
- Plastic figures (e.g. dinosaurs)
- Marbles
4. Craft Materials/Extras
- Modelling clay
- Sand
- Sparkles
- Pipe cleaners
- Small pieces of paper
- Popsicle sticks
- Mylar sheets OR tin foil
- Cardstock
- Glue
- Markers, stickers, crayons (for decorating)
DIY STEM Experiments with Materials Checklist
See if you can Clean the Ocean by trying the full experiment here.
Materials:
- Large clear container
- Water
- Beads
- Food colouring
- Marbles
- Small pieces of paper
- Optional: Rubber fish or something that symbolises ocean life
- Materials to build a device to clean up the ocean. We recommend the following, but these can be switched out for others:
- Plastic cups
- Popsicle sticks
- String
- Pipe cleaners
- Wax paper
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks and/or tape
Learn how fish breathe underwater with the full experiment here.
Materials:
- Glass jar
- Cup
- Spoon
- Water
- Coffee filter
- Coffee grounds
- Rubber elastic
Try the full paperclip experiment here.
Materials:
- String
- Paperclips
- Small stick
- Scissors
- Tape
- Strong magnets
- Metal ruler (or wooden/plastic ruler with tape)
- Blocks, books, or other material for stacking
Try the Meteorite Simulation Activity experiment here.
Materials:
- Modelling clay of a few different colours (ideally brown, black or white – colours that a meteor might be)
- Large shallow pan/tray with edges
- White baking flour (or any white powder: baking soda, coconut flour, etc.)
- Cocoa powder (or any coloured powder: dry drink powder, coffee, etc.)
- Flour sifter or a fine sieve
- Small dinosaur toys (optional)
Learn how to Build a Volcano on the Beach
Materials:
- Sand, either in a sandbox or on a beach
- Bucket or large cup
- Baking soda, 1-2 cups
- Vinegar, 1-2 cups
- Measuring cup
- Food colouring (optional)
Make Your Own Ice Cream full experiment.
Materials:
- 1 medium Ziploc bag (1 quart)
- 1 large Ziploc bag (1 gallon)
- 4 cups ice
- 6 tablespoons Kosher or rock salt
- 1/2 cup of half-and-half cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- Pinch of table salt
- Food colouring (optional)
- Favourite ice cream toppings
- Bowl
- Spoon
Try your hand at Making Your Own Thunderstorm with the full experiment here.
Materials:
- A large, clear plastic container or bin
- Lukewarm water
- Red food colouring
- Ice cubes made with blue food colouring (make these ahead of time)
Create your own Cloud in a Jar with the full experiment here.
Materials:
- 2 pieces of paper
- Petroleum jelly (Vaseline)
- Magnifying glass (optional)
- Butter knife
- Tape
See How Clean Your Air is with the full experiment here.
Materials:
- 2 pieces of paper
- Petroleum jelly (Vaseline)
- Magnifying glass (optional)
- Butter knife
- Tape
Do the Magic of Static Electricity experiment here.
Materials:
- Bowl
- Salt
- Pepper
- Spoon
- Plastic hair comb
Go to the Make Your Own Kaleidoscope experiment.
Materials:
- Empty Pringles can or tissue paper roll
- Mylar sheets or aluminium foil
- Cardstock (if using aluminium foil)
- Straw
- Glue
- Can opener
- Scissors
- Sharp pencil
- Cardstock
- Markers, stickers, crayons, glitter (to decorate the cardstock)
See the Make a Crystal Snowflake experiment
Materials:
- 1 Pipe cleaner (ideally white, but any colour will work)
- Scissors
- Pencil
- String, about 20 cm
- Wide-mouthed jar
- Boiling water (enough to fill the jar)
- Borax (found in the laundry section of most grocery stores): 3 tablespoons for every 1 cup of boiling water needed to fill your jar
Go to the full Make Fake Snow experiment
Materials:
- 2 cups of corn starch
- 1 cup of hair conditioner (any will do, but white is ideal)
- Optional: some glitter for a little sparkle
